The Dance of the Setting Sun
by EnchantedSeas
Summary: Years after Lyra and Will were seperated, Lyra has no choice but to find her way back to her lost love but as the years have flown by, Will has moved on with a girl named Ava. When Lyra returns, it sets off a chaos of heartbreak and terror as Ava, once bright and happy, turns into someone dark and ruined. Will Lyra and Will mend the wounds their undying love has caused?


It had been years since Lyra and her dear Pantalaimon had seen Will close the window between her world and his, yet they were still together in the Botanic Garden every year on Midsummers day at midnight wishing with all of their hearts to see each other once more. They had both worked hard for there had been a lot of work to do and neither of them let go of their promises to build the Republic of Heaven.

Lyra was a student at St Sophia. She had one year to go. She had lessons with Dame Hannah to regain the ability to read the altheometer but she didn't know yet, what to do after she graduated.

Will was studying as well and the same as Lyra, he too didn't know what the future holds for him for both were used to living in the moment. Even though they had promised to not let their love be an obstacle if either of them happened to find love again, Lyra hadn't been able to let Will go, in her heart and so she had stayed true to Will and still held a place for him, waiting in her heart.

Will on the other hand had met a girl who reminded him of the witch he knew, the fierce Serafina Pekkala but younger and full of life and joy. She wasn't anything like Lyra and maybe that's what Will loved about her for the love he still felt for the girl he hadn't seen in five years was as tormenting as it had been when they had been seperated forever.

Will hadn't planned on falling in love again, not wanting to feel the pain of love crush him as it had all those years ago, but when he started to fell the void in his heart slowly fill again with the thought of the lovely girl, Ava, it was refreshing and cleansing. It was as he had been living in the world of eternal night for a long time and then suddenly, a ray of light broke through the thick clouds of heartbreak. Still, that little spark of love was nothing compared to the severed love of the seperated lovers.

But the love Will felt for Ava wasn't painful and tormenting, it was free and joyful so when Will found himself kissing the girl, he thought of it as a new beginning, a happy one and went along with the flow, but he had no idea what it would cost him.  
Something had happened, something big and terrible and Lyra didn't dare to speak about it to anyone. She had done something, something that could change everything if the truth ended up in the wrong hands. She needed help, and the only person she could think of was her lost love, So she found herself not only taking lessons from Dame Hannah, but also the angel Xaphania.. She devoted her life to studying the reading of the alethiometer and how to travel between worlds. A few more years passed and with time, Lyra possesed the ability to travel the worlds. So when the Midsaummers day drew close, she was full of exitement and joy to see Will once again.

Will was excited as well but for a whole different reason. He was planning to propose to Ava and marry her when the time came. He was truly happy with the girl. She had brought Will back to the world of the living. She made him laugh, she was the loveliest girl he knew and he wanted to spend his life with her.

He did still feel like this was the real end of him and Lyra, even though he knew that that it had ended long before. He decided to take Ava to the Botanic Garden before the marriage proposal to make his peace with Lyra and talk to Lyra about it during the one hour that was reserved only for her at midnight even though e couldn't have done it face to face. He also thought of it as welcoming Ava into his life and heart for real by taking her to the most important place for him.

Midsummers day came sooner then expected and Will and Ava spent the whole evening in te Botanic Garden, except for one hour in midnight, when he devoted himself to Lyra, It was the only time he let himself wish they were together again even though he still thought of her every single day and the beautiful memories of his adventures with her.

As the evening passed, Will and Ava had fun. They ate dinner, laughed, explored the garden and when it was close to midnight, he took her to the gate and said softly: "Could you go the river bank by our house and wait for me there?, I must stay here for a while, to….to…"

Ava stopped him: "Shh, it's okay, you don't have to explain yourself to me"

Ava didn't argue for she knew that something painful had happened to him and didn't want to open up old wounds.

Will smiled : "I have a surprise for you, you'll love it!"

"I love you" she whispered, kissed him goodbye and stared walking toward the river bank. As she let her mind wonder, she thought of the amazing life she and Will shared and smiled. Suddenly an another thought came to her gand halfway to the river, she stopped.

Lyra had just come from her last lesson with Xaphania. She was shaking of fear since she knew that if something went wrong, she could be lost for ever into oblivion, existing as no one. She had to succeed, she had to and as she told herself that over and over again, she was on her way to the Botanic Garden.

The clock crawled closer and closer to midnight. She knew it was time to begin. She sat on the bench, and stared at the sky entering a trance similar to the one she used to read her alethiometer in. She imagined Dust flowing swiftly in the sky and herself, just like the Dust, with it flowing and flowing until she knew she wasn't in her world anymore.

It was a strange place, it seemed like the same garden but it wasn't. There were heartbreaking sounds screaming Lyra's name over and over again, calling her to them. She felt herself breaking as the screams dashed under her skin and filled her, trying to make her move but she couldn't not if she ever wanted to return to the world of the living. She forced herself to close her eyes to escape from this dreadful place and muffle the voices.

Suddenly she was floating above the same park, the smae bench and she was sure she had crossed over to Will's world. She was floating farther and farther away so she put all her strength into pushing herself down. It was so hard that after a while, she wasn't sure she would make it. All the power inside her was focused on reaching the bench but she wasn't getting any closer. She felt tears on her face when she gave up and as she drifted farther into nothing she started to think of the past, of Will. Then she began sinking down, smiling. Of course it was love that would bring her back. When she reached Wills world, she collapsed lightly on the bench.

As soon as Will saw that Ava was no longer in sight, he hurried to the bench like so many times before. Once he reached it, his heart almost stopped. There she was, lying on the bench,unconscious and beautiul. He looked at her for what seemed like forever, not believing his eyes. It wasn't possible that she was really here, was it?

Still as the bells let him know that it was midnight, he approached her and whispered : .  
"Lyra, is it… is it really you?"

Lyra slowly opened her eyes, saw Will and smiled. "I made it, I can see you"

She closed her eyes again, exhausted and Will dropped by her side on the bench. He hesitantly touched her face, drew them quickly away as the reality of touching his lost love hit him and put his arms around her once more.  
Will held Lyra as tightly as he could until Lyra regained her strength. After a while she started explaining : ' "You have no idea how hard I have worked to get here. Oh it's just so incredible I can't believe it"

He didn't anwser, still in shock.

"Will? Oh I know it's unexpected but I dunno, there wasn't any way of letting you know. You have no idea what had happened. Oh it's so horrible!"

And as tear began to fill Lyras eyes Will found the words again "Am I ... dead?"

"No 'course not, why would you think that, are ya okay?... Will?"

But Will didn't say a thing, instead he lifted her to air and touched her face and hair as to make sure she was real. "Oh it's you, It really is. But how?"

"The angel, she taught me. Sfter a lot of begging of course, but yea it's really me!"

They were both so happy, they couldn't think of anything else, only each other and as they sat on the bench, in each other arms, kissing and crying at once. They let the world swim away and relished in the joy and love of the reunion until they fell asleep under the stars that guarded them.

Ava had stopped in te middle of the road. She thought to herself, what could the surprise be. Could it really be.. She couldn't wait to find out if it really was that so she found herself walking back to the garden to surprise him instead.

It was a long way back but she walked slowly and after an hour she reached the gate again. She walked quietly through the sleeping garden as if someone could wake if she was too loud and soon she found Will's bag. Since Will was nowhere around, she took a little peek inside and found what she had been looking for, the little box with the most beautiful ring inside it. She was so happy that she let out a little squeak but remained silent after that.

She heart a little noise of someone sleeping and followed it, her curiosity getting the best of her. She was heartbroken when she saw what she thought to be the love of her life sleeping on a bench with a girl with a hair like a lion's holding each other tightly. As she felt the tears of heartbreak and anger flow on her cheeks, she tossedt he ring in front of Will and stormed out.

She didn't stop running until she reached the river. There at last she let out a heartbreaking cry which shook every night animal who was near. She had no idea what to do, where to go. A couple of hours ago she was bursting with happiness but now.. Nothing nothing. Another cry bursted out of her mouth, but this one was full of anger and anguish. As she stood up, nourished by the anger and need for revenge she felt something change inside her. The joyful, innocent girl was gone and all that was left was someone awful and unspeakable, capable of anything to bring her revenge to life. With a smile so horrible she took a deep breath and dived into the river swimming deeper and deeper.


End file.
